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KnowNuthin's avatar
KnowNuthin
Explorer
Aug 30, 2013

Sandwich repair (interior wall)

Just finished pealing the wall paper and what was left of the plywood off the bedroom wall... I was expecting some 'studs' behind the wall to fasten a new wall panel to... there is one vertical stud at the rear corner but that's all the studs I found...

The disintegrated plywood section is from ceiling to floor--about three feet wide--and, yes, the leak in the roof has been fixed (new roof)

What we have looks like a 'sandwich'... fiberglass exterior-foam board insulation-plywood interior-vinyl wall paper...

I got all the plywood off the interior up to the point where there's a very thin layer of the old plywood still glued to the foam board insulation...

Questions:

Do I 'sand' off the old plywood or can I glue a replacement plywood section over the old plywood?

I've narrowed my replacement panels down to two choices--a Luan plywood (from Home Depot) covered with... well, I'm not quite sure what to cover it with (see question below)... the second choice is a decorative hardboard panel from Lowes ( Lowes Paneling ...it's got 'wallpaper' attached to it already so once I glue this panel up I'd be done)

If'n I sand off the plywood (down to foam board) what type of glue would hold the plywood/foam together without 'eating' the foam?

Any suggestions on a complimentary/contrasting wall covering for when I get the new plywood up? (I kinda doubt I'll be able to find 'matching' wallpaper)

14 Replies

  • I would suggest searching some of the sailboat building forums. The home built boats are constructed with fiberglass over foam, so the methods are pretty common. I have used contact cement, which melted the foam, but stuck OK anyway. It only melted where it was put on too thick. I have also used PL Adhesive which did not melt the foam, and seemed to hold up well.
  • I also would leave the old Luan, I believe it will accept an adhesive better than the foam.
  • Spot test any adhesive you want to use on the foam board insulation, to ensure that the adhesive doesn't melt the foam board.
  • Good question. I'd use luan instead of hardboard, and glue it to the thin layer of existing old luan. Maybe contact cement would work the best in this situation?

    I think you could paint over the entire new and old rear wall with a color of your choice. I do believe there have been folks here who have successfully painted over the original vinyl covering. Maybe it needs KILZ primer or something like that to bond.

    Check out this new thread on replacing wallcoverings